How on earth do you learn a language?

[holoo]

Apart from my daily Duolingo... which I don't think is getting me far.

I've been desperate to be fluent in Italian for a good couple of years now and just feel the progress isn't moving much.

Really curious to see how others have done it. And how long it does actually tend to take?

Evening classes and lots of homework and study, and watching TV in that language seems to be the best way. I am not the best example myself though!

I have never got much more than basic phrases to get around, but generally you need to immerse yourself in it as much as possible and practice speaking. A group to practice conversation would really help.

An old fashioned teach yourself book for grammar exercises. Youtube videos to explain anything you don't understand. Duolingo is dull and repetitive and skates over grammar, so the opposite of what you want. Its only advantage is the convenience of having short exercises available on your mobile 24/7, which is why I still use it for German.

YouTube has good videos in several languages. I'd search for "Learn Italian". There are also language clubs where people come together to practice a language. Before COVID, there used to be both a French and a German club i West Midlands.

Immersion as much as possible, reading as much in your target language, and listening to videos and tv with and without English subtitles. I am currently learning Hungarian on my own, and it is quite hard.

Connect with native speakers to speak with.

I found this video really helpful, and there is tonnes of videos on YouTube.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=uWQYqcFX8JE&pp=ygUXaG93IGkgbGVhcm5lZCBub3J3ZWdpYW4%3D

An old fashioned teach yourself book for grammar exercises. Youtube videos to explain anything you don't understand.

All good, but you're not going to get anywhere near fluent without regular practice at actually speaking the language. In reality this is hard to achieve even if you go to a class, as that will generally be only once a week and you won't be speaking the whole time even in the class.

The best substitute for speaking is lots and lots of listening, because unlike reading or grammar books, ot practises every aspect of the language except spelling. It helps with vocab, pronunciation and accent, comprehension, and reinforcing grammar knowledge. You can watch YouTube videos and listen to podcasts suitable for your level.

My top tip (I'm a languages teacher) is, once you are at a good enough level, to listen to audio Italian versions of English books you know really well, even if they are children's books. I taught myself Spanish as an adult almost entirely by listening (initially to all the Harry Potter books ). If you have Audible, you can slow the audio down as much as you like (without the voice going weird). Of course eventually you can progress to actual Italian books. I got myself to approximately A Level standard this way, without ever going to a class or actually speaking to a Spanish person.

Also - remember that little and often is best with language learning.

You need to put in hours and hours of work. Take two approaches 1. Expose yourself as much as possible to the langauge. Listen to radio, watch TV, read short texts. 2. Formal teaching. Get yourself a tutor to teach you basis vocabulary, grammar and speaking practice. You should have a reasonable level of fluency in about 3 years.

Take a class to really get you going. Read and listen to as much Italian as you can. It's about maximizing input. You can't get out what you don't put in. And see if you can find a language exchange, or just conversation classes if you can afford it. You have to achieve a level of exposure to and use of the language at which your brain thinks "this is content which I NEED, I'm going to retain it."

Have you tried to get hold of some of the BBC Italianissimo books?

They used to come with tapes but maybe they've upgraded in the meantime - they were really, really good.

My friend learnt Italian on her own by starting with children’s books in Italian and building up from there.

I’m learning French, have an ancient gcse. Three years in now and I feel like I’ve really turned a corner. I use dulingo, bbc stuff online, YouTube and my lovely French class at a local college, sadly under threat now because of dwindling numbers

I’m learning Italian at https://www.ihlondon.com/foreign-languages/ & honestly, it’s terrific - I’ve come on in leaps & bounds since starting. They have online classes and face to face ones in Central London.

The same way you learnt your mother tongue. Repetition, imitation, lots of listening to simple language, songs, simple books.

Do you know any Italian speakers? It would be good to find one to practise with.

Constantly repeat to yourself the phrases you are learning. Have imaginary conversations while you're pottering around. Whatever sentences you know keep saying them out loud. Build up familiarity.

Nigh on impossible to achieve fluency without living there. Immersion is the key. I’ve done it in 2 different languages and it took a matter of months but that was living and working out there, surrounded by it all day every day and never speaking English except on phone to family and friends.

You can get to a decent level with classes, conversation groups, self study, watching TV, listening to the radio…. But I wouldn’t expect fluency and it won’t come quickly.

I read a newspaper article with my coffee in the morning, listened to the radio whole I cooked, ironed or any quiet style housework, had a regular interaction, watched one TV programme in the evening and made a Spotify playlist.

I started off with children's books but be warned: some cartoons have very squeaky, quick voices. Peppa Pig is good.

I did grammar books every day at first, tailing off as the grammar became more detailed as this took lots of concentration and was better less frequently and in small chunks.

And I also discovered that thee are lots of mistakes in grammar books, so expect this.

I just did their online German test as I want to sign up for an online course and there were at least 3 spelling errors on it! 🤔

@holoo are you able to spend a few weeks in Italy?
immerse yourself in listening as much as you can. There are also a number of free apps which you can get to read a language - newspapers etc- and have vocab help (for instance beelingua).

All that said, fluency only comes with actual speaking. Anyone claiming fluency without actually speaking it (so from books etc) is lying to themselves. The languages I have learnt to speak fluently - I have learnt while there, using daily. The languages not so fluent I have degrees in! Ironic but true.
So listen as much as you can.
For vocab one of my top tips is to put post it notes around the house of relevant vocab/ sentences. You’ll see them all the time and associate the words with actual things.

I am using Udemy courses mostly.
Can also use YouTube videos and books to learn a bit more.
There may also be online communities of other trying to learn the same language who can provide more specific advice relating to additional sources that can help - like links to fun websites in that language etc.
And time. It's really important to put in the hours!

Go to Italy.

From experience, living in the country, or being married to someone who speaks it!